By Aaron Cordy
ROTARY Outreach Myeloma Program (ROMP) is an annual Rotary Club community service program led by the Rotary Club of Camberwell that engages with many Clubs across regional Australia to make a positive difference in the lives of myeloma patients living in their communities.
On Wednesday, October 22, ROMP met in Shepparton with all three Shepparton Rotary clubs, Mooroopna, Tatura and Kyabram to discuss fundraising for the scholarships the group offers to nurses in regional centres.
“Through offering scholarships to nurses in regional cancer centres, the logic being that to increase the currency of treatment. We offer this postgraduate qualification, which is offered by Melbourne University and the Australian College of Nursing. It’s a formal qualification. It’s offered to registered nurses who are already graduate nurses,” said Peter Allen, President of the Rotary Club of Camberwell, who presented the ROMP program in Shepparton.
“The aim is to increase the treatment resources and the skills of nurses in Regional Cancer Centres, in the case of Shepparton, that would be the Copulos Centre, for example. And in fact, one of our scholarships was awarded there two years ago.”
It is an unfortunate fact that people living in rural areas struggle to have the same access to medical care as those living in metropolitan cities, which is why ROMP hopes to bridge the gap with specialised nurses in rural areas.
“If you’re going to get sick, seriously sick, make sure you’re in a capital city, the term is. It’s inequitable, as country people don’t have these resources. And while we fully understand that we think we can do more to make a change and advocate the government, advocate the communities, even at Rotary, where we will support patients to get them into that treatment,” said Peter.
To make a tax-deductible donation to the award-winning program supporting the work of Myeloma Australia through engagement with Rotary Clubs, visit https://rompteam.net/donation-page.
